


I Remember You

by Primarina (PastelBrachypelma)



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Body Horror, Bugs & Insects, Ineffable Bureaucracy (Good Omens), Nonbinary Beelzebub (Good Omens), Nonbinary Character, One-Sided Relationship, Other, Past Relationship(s), Sad, Wing Grooming, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 15:23:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20409979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelBrachypelma/pseuds/Primarina
Summary: Gabriel and Beelzebub have met before.THE Before. Long before demons existed, and when the Prince of Hell went by another name.





	1. Gabriel

Gabriel’s first observation of Beelzebub is that zey carry a pestilence of flies everywhere with zem, and that it’s nearly enough to choke the air out of someone. His second observation is that zey seem to be brushing dirt off zeir shoulders which, considering how dark and dank and generally underground Hell is, seems like a lot of bother for nothing.

His third observation is the thin veil of hidden wings sticking out behind zem in the hidden plane. Angels and demons can always see each other’s wings, of course; part of the perks of ethereal and occult status. The Prince of Hell’s wings are completely stripped of feathers, leaving only delicate bone behind. Silky cobwebs devoid of spiders wind in between the cream-colored bone, which is artfully faded to brown in the creases of each joint, as if zey’d taken a flame and burned it away. Clusters of flies make a mockery of feathers. Gabriel internally makes a face because he is a professional, damn it, and they have a job to do.

His last observation is quick and painful. 

{I remember you.}

It’s like a whisper in his ear, like water on his skin. It feels forbidden and frightening, like being out in the cold without his coat.

{I remember who you were.}

Zey were not fond of either gender even then, though angels only choose pronouns and behaviors they’ve picked up from humans. An angel, and by extension, a demon, have no true gender, just as they have no need to do horrid things like eat and sleep and have manners like humans. (If Gabriel had been willing to step out of line, he would have politely asked God what exactly she was thinking when she gave hairless, helpless, two-legged monstrosities full reign of the planet.)

Zey were beautiful, stringy dark hair glistening in the light of zeir halo. He remembered clearly how much zey had taken a gleeful interest in illnesses and plagues, and the creatures that would bring them about. Funny, that zey ended up embracing so many flies, just as zey had in Heaven. He remembered (fondly, despite himself) how the other angels turned up their nose at zem when zey befriended Pestilence. He’d always admired that, how zey took on a job no angel in their right mind could want, with the simple and productive attitude of: “well, somebody had to do it!”

Somebody indeed.

{I remember what we were.}

Angels having relationships with one another was not unheard of, but it wasn’t actively encouraged. Office relationships took away from the important work they were meant to be doing. And yet…

He remembered vividly how he would groom zeir wings, carefully removing fly eggs and larvae while leaving adults to nest amongst zeir feathers (at zeir request; “it helpzzz me study them;” zey had even gotten their buzz even before zeir Fall). He would listen to zem talk passionately about disease, and how it would ultimately lead to the Greater Good. It would force the humans to care for the sick and the dying, for those who were about to stray from Her to reconsider how short life could be. He listened to zem talk passionately about Pestilence and all his inspiring ideas.

He remembered fearing for zem when they began to talk of Lucifer’s strange ideas. He remembered the last angelic taste of zem on his lips before zey Fell…

But that was in the past now. They had bigger fish, er…traitors, to fry, and a disobedient Antichrist to get back on track. A relationship between an angel and a demon was simply not in the Divine Plan.

Aziraphale and Crowley were outliers, and shouldn’t have been counted.


	2. Beelzebub

Beelzebub’s first observation of Gabriel was that his clothes were too clean. Zey were used to the dark, dank, and dirty hallways of Hell, used to demons with absolutely poor excuses for hygiene. Zey zemselves had a more horrific form, complete with oozing pustules that secreted the most joyous amount of sickening green goo when popped. Horseflies crawled from zeir lips and house centipedes curled up under zeir tongue. Zey were disgusting, and zey loved it. Gabriel looked as though he had everything perfectly tailored to fit, had kept up with recent trends (disgusting human invention that was, “trends.” It made zem sick), and was horrendously over-modest. Really, a turtleneck in the middle of the summer?!

Zeir second observation was his wings, hidden just out of view. They were spread, though; probably from his descent from the Heavens. He’d come down in a bolt of lighting; how cliché. And how flash! And zey thought Crowley was the flash bastard here. Zey noticed that his wings, while they looked pure white at first, had subtle ombre-like shading of the same purple as his eyes on the tips of the flight feathers. His down feathers were the softest of pastel lavenders, so light that it looked white except if you were staring. Which zey absolutely were not. Zey were just brushing off disgusting Earth dirt from their clothes, obviously.

Zeir third observation was…interesting, to say the least.

{I remember you.}

With the unwelcome observation came the memory of fire and brimstone, the way zeir heart had slid up into zeir throat as zey fell, surrounded by other Fallen Angels. Demons, now. A new word for a new, forbidden thing. 

Lucifer loved zem, had appointed zem the Prince of Hell. Said he liked zeir style. 

What a price to pay for command of a legion of zeir own.

{I knew you before I Fell.}

He’d been flash then, too, the bastard. Always brandishing his weapons, polishing his armor. “What war are you getting ready for?” The other angels mocked him. He’d smile that insincere smile that zey liked, the one that said “I know more than you do,” and say, “It never hurts to be prepared!” 

Zey had always despised physical exercise, but he had never shied away from it, always careful with his corporation, always thinking ahead. He’d wanted to care for the humans that would inhabit the Earth by insisting on good eating habits. Zey, always the Devil’s advocate (quite literally, as it happened), always liked to point out how badly that could go. But he’d smile his smug smile and say, “That’ll never happen.”

Zey had always admired his optimism.

{I remember what we were.}

“Come with me,” zey’d say. Beg, really, taking his hand and trying to drag him with zem. “At least hear him out!”

“No!” Gabriel pulled zem back, back into his strong, muscular arms. “What he’s saying is treason, [REDACTED].” (It had been too long. Zey had zeir real name stripped from zem. It did not exist, even in zeir memory.) Gabriel’s arms were warm. “Stay here. With me. Let’s go spar together!”

Zey had looked at him with hard, ice blue eyes. “You can’t seriously think She is in the right here. She means to demote us!”

Gabriel’s purple eyes were sad. “But we will still be each other’s most important thing. Is that not enough?”

Apparently, it hadn’t been.

Beelzebub had six thousand years of being a demon under zeir belt, and zey liked it that way. Being a demon meant following less rules, even if the paperwork was horrendous. (Thank Satan for Dagon, who actually found joy in doing paperwork.)

Zey had no regrets. Zey accepted their Fall and all that came with it.

When zey thought of Gabriel’s sad purple eyes and wondered if the archangel remembered zem, Beelzebub thought maybe zey were lying to zemselves.

But now was not the time for that. Here were the traitors, here was the bratty little Antichrist. Here, zey’d fight Gabriel and his Heavenly Host.

Here, in the aftermath, zey would make him a demon. And they’d rule side by side.

**Author's Note:**

> I kept seeing all these fics about Aziraphale and Crowley knowing each other before the Fall, so I thought: why not Gabriel and Beelzebub?
> 
> (Listen I like Beez as a character but I will always think of Gabriel as a prick but y'know....)
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think! :)


End file.
